1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal dye sublimation printer having a function of transmitting and receiving data via wireless communication and an ink ribbon cassette therefor.
2. Background Art
In related art, as a printer for printing images and characters on printing media, a thermal dye sublimation printer that prints color images and characters by sublimating color materials forming ink layers provided on one side of an ink ribbon and thermally transferring the color materials onto printing paper is known. This type of printer includes a thermal head that thermally transfers the color materials of the ink ribbon onto printing paper and a platen provided in a position facing the thermal head for supporting the ink ribbon and the printing paper.
Such a printer brings the ink ribbon and the printing paper into contact with each other so that the ink ribbon is at the thermal head side and the printing paper is at the platen side and allows the ink ribbon and the printing paper to travel between the thermal head and the platen while pressing the ink ribbon and the printing paper against the thermal head with the platen. Meanwhile, the printer applies thermal energy to the ink layers from the rear side of the ink ribbon traveling between the thermal head and the platen, sublimates the color materials with the thermal energy, thermally transfers the color materials onto the printing paper, and thus, prints color images and characters.
The printer includes, in the printer main body, an attachment part to which an ink ribbon cartridge containing a pair of spools around which an ink ribbon is wound is attached. In the ink ribbon cartridge containing the ink ribbon, the unused part of the ink ribbon is wound around one spool and the used part of the ink ribbon is wound around the other spool. When the ink ribbon cartridge is attached to the printer and operated by a traveling mechanism provided in the printer main body, the ink ribbon is drawn from the one spool, subjected to the thermal transfer process by the thermal head, and then, taken up by the other spool (see JP-A-6-340136 (patent document 1), for example).
Further, in a thermal dye sublimation printer that prints images and characters on printing media, it is necessary to set printing specifications for designating the number of printing sheets, printing size (including not only paper size but also image size by scaling), etc., and it is also necessary to manage so-called consumable items such as paper and ink ribbons because the printer often runs out of the paper or ink ribbon during the printing operation of some sheets (see JP-A-2001-18497 (patent document 2), JP-A-2002-52738 (patent document 3), JP-A-2004-284206 (patent document 4), JP-A-2005-140896 (patent document 5), for example).